Rochester can never be an economic success story with pockets of joblessness reminiscent of the Great Depression. Everyone — individuals and institutions — can help spark an employment revolution in the city's poorer neighborhoods.

The path to employment very much begins at birth. Whether relative, educator or mentor, those positioned to positively impact disadvantaged youth can best do so by inspiring a firm work ethic and highlighting career paths — white-, blue- and gray-collar — fitting interests and aptitude. Not every pipeline from high school to gainful career must pass through a four-year college. Retire stigmas linked to vocational education.

Elaine Spaull, director of the Center for Youth, has aptly stated, "Our attempts to address our racial strife will be successful once we see each other, one by one, as fully human and capable." City-based employers especially should foster long-term bonds to their community by offering job and internship opportunities for Rochester youth.

An innovative new model to watch is Operation Transformation, brainchild of City Council President Lovely Warren and County Legislator Willie J. Lightfoot. Without public funding, this program is now helping dozens of African-American men who've dropped out of school to potentially gain entry to Rochester's economy — connecting them with agencies such as the SUNY Rochester Educational Opportunity Center, Rochester Mentors and RochesterWorks. Smooth collaboration among these institutions will be key.

This year, it's also incumbent on the Finger Lakes team to craft a robust application for Gov. Andrew Cuomo's Opportunity Agenda. A solid poverty-fighting plan could bring needed state development dollars to distressed communities.

Additionally, the council, champion of the blossoming Eastman Business Park, should pursue manufacturers that might thrive in a city with thousands seeking low- to middle-skilled work.

Public works

With large-scale, public-backed construction projects buzzing throughout the city — i.e. city schools, Midtown Rising, a new transit center — more impoverished locals should have a hand in rebuilding Rochester. The city-promoted ROAR training academy must pay off for more of its graduates. Meanwhile, ambitious project labor agreements promising opportunities for minorities and women need to be shored up — with cooperation of government, trade unions and private investors. Tap ROAR graduates to fill arising labor needs.

Inter-municipal talks

Great gains can be made by the new consortium of urban and suburban public officials, born out of the Editorial Board's Listening Tour. For example, City Council, which recently helped usher in the most diverse police and fire classes in decades, should work with the Monroe County Sheriff's Office to boost recruitment efforts.